Max Payne Mobile Review – Max is now in your pocket!

Max Payne Mobile. Really…? I still remember the day some friends and me rented the original Max Payne game in our local game store. We were the first to do so, and we could get the included poster in the game box. Playing the game was far better. When Max Payne was released for PC, it was a top shooter game. It introduced the (then novel) bullet time effect. Much like in The Matrix, press the bullet time button and time will move slowly for a few moments while you shoot at enemies.

The game story is good too: while working as an undercover cop, Max’s best friend and fellow officer Alex is shot. All proofs pointed to Max, and he is set to clear its name, using any means he needs. Between each chapter you get stylish noir-themed comic books detailing the story, all while being narrated by Max’s voice.

How does Max Payne Mobile compare to the PC original? Well, it looks exactly the same. Completely. A total port of the game, from old PC to modern iPad and iPhone. How does the game stand in the current iPad world? Graphically and in gameplay it is probably below some other blockbuster games. But this is a “real” game. With a solid plot, both in gameplay and as side stories go. I don’t think there is another game today in the App Store fulfilling these premises, making Max Payne Mobile the best shooter around.

Controls are very customizable, a huge bonus, since this game can be hard, tricky and frustrating at moments. Don’t forget to play through the tutorial just to make sure you really know how to use them!

Of course, it could be more polished with hardware you can find in an iPad or iPhone. Shot-down animations were good back in 2001, but currently with the awesome physics engine available for developers, they feel a little… lousy. But of course this is just a minor complaint. Max Payne Mobile is the shooter you should be buying today.

A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, hunted by cops and the mob, Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Max Payne is a relentless story-driven game about a man on the edge, fighting to clear his name while struggling to uncover the truth about his slain family amongst a myriad of plot-twists.

The groundbreaking original cinematic action-shooter, Max Payne introduced the concept of Bullet Time® in videogames. Through its stylish slow-motion gunplay combined with a dark and twisted story, Max Payne redefined the action-shooter genre.

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Ruben Berenguel is finishing his PhD in Mathematics while writing in mostlymaths.net about being a 'geek of all trades'. He also happens to be the senior editor in the What's on iPhone network: any complaints go to him!